Obama in ‘earnest’ reach-out to Muslims

PRESIDENT Barack Obama said Washington’s effort to reach out to the Muslim world was earnest and would help improve US security, although he acknowledged that there was still more work to do.

Obama arrived yesterday on a twice-postponed trip to Indonesia, the world’s most populous majority-Muslim state. Before leaving today, he plans a speech reaching out to the Muslim world that would tout Indonesia as an example of an emerging democracy and tolerant society.

“With respect to outreach to the Muslim world, I think that our efforts have been earnest and sustained,” he said at a joint news conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.